GUILD 

Memorial  Address  on  the 
Late  John  Whipple  Potter 
Jenks. 


QL 
31 
J5G8 


JOHN  WHIPPLE  POTTER  JENKS. 


H  memorial  Bbbress, 


BY   R.   A.   GUILD. 


MEMORIAL  ADDRESS 


ON    THE    LATE 


JohnWhipple  Potter  Jenks, A.M. 


EMERITUS 


QOMPL1MENTS  OF    ... 

ELISHA    T.   JENKS. 


February  6,  1895. 


BY 


Reuben  Aldridge  Guild,  A.  M.,  LL.  D., 

LIBRARIAN  EMERITUS. 


PROVIDENCE,   R.   I.: 

PRESS   OF  CASEY  BROTHERS,    7   COLLEGE  ST. 
1895. 


MEMORIAL  ADDRESS 


ON    THE    LATE 


JohnWhipple  Potter  Jenks,  A.  M 

PROFESSOR  OF  ZOOLOGY  EMERITUS 

AND 
CURATOR  OF  THE  MUSEUMS. 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 

Kacxalty   and  Students    of  Bro\vn  University, 

IN 
SAYLES  MEMORIAL  HALL, 

February  6,  1895. 

BY 

Reuben  Aldridge  Guild,  A.  M.,  LL.  D., 

LIBRARIAN  EMERITUS. 


PROVIDENCE,    R.   I.: 

PRESS   OF  CASEY  BROTHERS,    ^  COLLEGE  ST. 
1895- 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  of  Brown  University  held  shortly  after 
Professor  Jenks'  lamented  decease,  suitable  resolutions  were  adopted 
to  be  placed  on  their  records,  and  a  committee  of  three  was  ap- 
pointed to  secure  a  memorial  address.  The  committee  consisted  of 
Alpheus  S.  Packard,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Zoology  and  Geology, 
Herman  C.  Bumpus,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Comparative  Anatomy,  and 
Assistant  Curator  of  the  Museums,  and  George  W.  Field,  Ph.  D., 
Associate  Professor  of  Cellular  Biology. 


We  have  assembled  this  day  to  pay  a  tribute  of 
gratitude  and  esteem  to  a  departed  associate  ; — one 
who  lately  trod  these  familiar  walks,  engaged  in  the 
daily  routine  of  college  life,  and  worshipped  with  us 
the  Father  of  Lights  and  Mercies.  To  me  it  is 
allotted  to  commemorate  his  virtues  in  a  brief  sketch 
of  his  character  and  life.  In  the  language  of  the 
revered  Wayland  on  a  similar  occasion  I  may  say, 
the  great  and  the  good  with  whom  I  have  been 
officially  connected  for  half  a  century  have  most  of 
them  passed  away, — and  now  another  link  in  the 
chain  has  been  severed.  I  seem  to  myself  the  rep- 
resentative of  a  by-gone  generation,  and  with 
mingled  emotions  address  myself  to  the  service 
which  the  partiality  of  your  committee  has  imposed 
upon  me. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  University, 
a  beloved  Professor  has  been  stricken  down  at  his 
post,  dying  upon  the  College  premises.  President 
Manning,  indeed,  was  struck  with  apoplexy  in  the 
midst  of  the  summer  term,  but  he  was  in  his  house 
with  his  family  around  him.  In  these  later  years 
Professors  Dunn,  Diman,  Greene,  Bancroft  and  Lin- 
coln have  all  had  memorial  services.  Professor 
Dunn  died  at  his  father's  house  in  Newport  during 
the  summer  vacation.  Professor  Diman  died  in 
term  time  after  a  brief  illness  of  six  days,  and  Pro- 
fessor Greene  was  stricken  down  while  on  his  way 
to  College.  Professor  Lincoln,  whom  we  all  re- 


member  so  well,  died  after  a  lingering  sickness,  on 
account  of  which  he  ceased  from  active  instruction. 

The  subject  of  my  sketch,  John  Whipple  Potter 
Jenks,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  He  de- 
scended from  a  family  not  unknown  to  fame  in  the 
annals  of  Rhode  Island.  Joseph,  his  great  ancestor, 
migrated  from  Buckinghamshire  in  England,  and  be- 
came the  founder  of  Pawtucket.  Each  of  his  four 
sons  was  prominent  in  the  history  of  the  Colony. 
Joseph,  the  eldest,  of  u  happy  memory,"  was  a  lead- 
ing member  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Providence,  for 
several  years  Governor  of  the  State,  and  at  one  time 
a  representative  at  the  Court  of  St.  James.  The 
second  son  became  the  military  leader  of  all  the 
forces  in  the  Colony.  The  third  son,  Ebenezer,  was 
an  Elder  in  the  church.  His  son  Daniel,  familiarly 
known  as  "Judge  Jenckes,"  was  a  wealthy  merchant 
of  Providence,  and  a  patron  both  of  the  College  and 
the  church.  For  many  years  he  was  a  prominent 
member  of  the  General  Assembly,  where  he  ren. 
dered  essential  service  in  the  matter  of  the  College 
Charter.  His  daughter  Rhoda,  it  may  be  added, 
married  a  Brown,  and  thus  became  the  mother  of  the 
noted  benefactor  who  gave  to  the  University  its 
name.  The  fourth  son,  William,  the  direct  ancestor 
of  the  Massachusetts  branch  of  the  family,  became  a 
Chief  Justice,  and  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
one. 

Professor  Jenks  was  the  sixth  child  and  eldest  son 
of  Doct.  Nicholas  and  Betsey  (Potter)  Jenks,  and 
was  born  in  West  Boylston,  on  the  first  day  of  May? 


5 

1819.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Capt.  John 
Potter,  a  man  of  great  stature,  a  revolutionary  soldier, 
and  a  Paymaster  at  Valley  Forge.  Often  would  he 
tell  to  his  eager  listening  children  and  grandchildren, 
the  story  of  the  sufferings  of  the  patriotic  men  who 
paraded  on  the  frozen  ground  with  bare  and  bleeding 
feet.  His  father,  a  native  of  North  Brookfield,  Mas- 
sachusetts, was  one  of  four  sons,  of  whom  Hervey 
was  graduated  at  Brown  University  with  the  valedic- 
tory honors  of  his  class.  He  himself  was  fitted  for 
the  medical  profession,  studying  at  the  academies  of 
Woodstock  and  Leicester,  and  afterwards  with  the 
celebrated  Doct.  John  Green  of  Worcester.  Upon 
the  completion  of  his  studies  he  commenced  practice 
in  West  Boylston,  teaching  school  during  the  winter 
months,  as  was  the  custom  with  professional  men  of 
limited  incomes.  During  a  revival  of  religion  that 
swept  over  all  that  section  of  the  country  both  father 
and  mother  were  converted,  embracing  the  senti- 
ments of  the  Baptists.  This  they  did  upon  a  careful 
and  independent  study  of  the  New  Testament  in 
reference  to  church  polity,  there  being  no  Baptist 
church  or  preacher  in  the  neighborhood.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  change  in  their  religious  views,  the 
good  Doctor  lost  his  practice,  the  prevailing  sen- 
timents of  the  people  around  him  being  those  of  the 
"Standing  Order."  He  was  compelled,  therefore, 
to  seek  a  livelihood  elsewhere. 

About  twenty-five  miles  distant  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  county  bordering  on  Connecticut,  was  a 
small  township  that  had  been  set  off  from  Stur- 


bridge,  by  the  name  of  Southbridge.  Thither  the 
family  removed  when  young  Jenks  was  about  a  year 
old  ; — and  here  his  childhood  and  early  youth  were 
spent.  The  religious  community  at  Southbridge  was 
about  equally  divided  between  Baptists  and  Congre- 
gationalists,  who  worshipped  alternately  in  the  one 
meeting-house  of  the  place,  which  was  also  used  as 
the  town  house.  The  Professor  in  his  private 
memoirs  gives  a  glowing  description  of  this  old  fash- 
ioned, yellow  painted,  two  story  building,  with  low 
steeple  and  a  bell.  On  three  sides  was  a  gallery, 
and  on  the  fourth  side  a  high  pulpit  that  brought 
the  minister's  head  above  the  level  of  the  gallery 
floors.  On  the  ceiling,  back  of  the  pulpit,  was  a 
fresco  of  two  large  owls'  heads  with  big  staring 
eyes,  and  wings  dropping  downward  three  feet,  the 
whole  designed  to  represent  the  angels  overshadow- 
ing the  Mercy  Seat.  Square  pews  that  compelled  a 
part  of  the  occupants  to  sit  with  backs  and  sides  to 
the  minister,  and  seats  that  turned  on  hinges  for  con- 
venience of  standing,  and,  in  the  words  of  the  Pro- 
fessor, "slammed  with  a  bang  at  the  close  of  the 
prayer,"  completed  the  interior.  The  use  of  cushions 
would  have  been  deemed  sacrilegious  in  those  days, 
and  foot  stoves  for  the  aged  and  infirm  were  the  only 
means  of  warmth  in  winter. 

Physically  the  elder  brother  of  the  family  was 
somewhat  precocious,  as  also  mentally,  being  able  to 
read,  it  is  said,  when  a  little  more  than  three  years 
old.  At  the  age  of  five  or  six  he  was  required  to 
aid  his  sisters  in  making  wool  cards  and  braiding 


straw.  Thus  early  were  habits  of  industry  and 
self-reliance  instilled  into  his  mind.  Another  of  his 
employments  was  carrying  a  daily  paper  to  the 
homes  of  the  subscribers.  From  the  age  of  four  he 
was  kept  at  school  ten  months  in  the  year,  and 
drilled  at  home  in  the  elementary  branches.  As  a 
result  he  was  at  thirteen  beyond  the  ordinary  text- 
books off-the  districts  ;  and  by  attending  a  select 
school  in  the  village  he  had  gone  through  works  on 
Natural  Philosophy,  Astronomy  and  Advanced  His- 
tory. He  was  furthermore  a  natural  speller,  and 
invariably  "spelled  down,"  in  the  phraseology  of 
the  day,  all  others  in  the  school,  although  many  of 
the  scholars  were  his  seniors.  These  details,  trivial 
though  they  may  appear,  are  important  as  illustrat- 
ing his  after  career.  The  child  is  father  of  the  man. 
In  the  month  of  February  preceding  his  eighth 
birthday,  the  monotony  of  his  childhood  life  was 
broken  somewhat  by  a  sleigh  ride  to  Providence, 
in  company  with  his  parents  and  a  sister.  They 
stopped  for  a  time  with  Dr.  Messer,  who  was  a  relative 
by  marriage,  his  wife's  mother  being  a  Jenks*.  He 
had  recently  resigned  the  Presidency  of  the  Univer- 
sity, and  was  now  living  in  the  "Messer  House,"  so 
called,  in  the  south  western  part  of  the  town.  Many 
times  afterwards  the  lad  recalled  the  stately  mansion 
with  its  tall  pillars  and  portico,  spacious  rooms  and 
lofty  ceilings,  associating  with  it  the  glories  of  the 
Institution  over  which  the  owner  had  long  presided, 
and  with  which  he  himself  was  to  be  so  long  and  so 


"The  wife's  maiden  name  was  Deborah  Angell. 


8 

honorably  connected.  The  house  has  recently  been 
taken  down.  This  visit  and  a  subsequent  one  to 
Amherst  determined  young  Jenks  upon  a  College 
life. 

He  was  now  approaching  his  thirteenth  year,  and 
it  became  necessary  to  make  choice  of  some  kind  of 
business  or  a  profession  for  the  future.  The  father 
had  already  made  arrangements  with  a  watchmaker 
and  jeweller  to  take  him  as  an  apprentice  until  he 
was  eighteen,  leaving  it  for  the  son  to  decide  the 
matter  on  his  coming  birthday.  The  decision  was 
promptly  made.  He  would  go  to  College.  His 
father  could  only  give  his  approval,  and  his  time 
until  he  was  twenty-one.  The  lad  foresaw  the 
struggle  and  self-denial  involved  in  the  task  before 
him,  but  his  energy  and  indomitable  will,  even  at 
that  early  age,  knew  no  obstacles.  Making  arrange- 
ments with  a  merchant  farmer  opposite  his  father's 
house  to  assist  him  in  his  work,  go  on  errands  and 
the  like,  for  his  board  and  clothing,  he  made  a  similar 
arrangement  for  his  tuition  with  his  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Addison  Parker,  and  commenced  the  study  of  Latin. 
While  reciting  in  the  pastor's  study  from  day  to  day, 
he  attracted  the  notice  of  a  young  man  visiting  at  the 
parsonage,  who,  on  learning  his  history,  offered  to 
take  the  lad  with  him  to  Virginia,  where  he  had  been 
teaching  for  the  past  two  years,  pay  all  his  expenses 
and  fit  him  for  College.  The  Maecenas*  thus  prov- 


*In  the  Journal  or  Diary  of  Prof.  Jenks  occurs  the  following  entry: — 
"Thursday,  April  16,  1885.  Called  upon  the  Rev.  Dr.  Parker,  the 
Maecenas  who  took  me  at  the  age  of  thirteen  from  Massachusetts  to 
Virginia  to  attend  his  school,  and  begin  to  fit  for  College  in  the 
Classics.  He  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  had  given  up  active  service  as 
a  pastor,  and  was  living  in  IvOs  Angeles,  with  his  married  daughter." 


identially  found  was  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  W. 
Parker,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a  recent  gradu- 
ate of  Union  College.  This  offer  so  generously 
made  was  gladly  accepted,  and  he  at  once  started 
on  what  was  then  a  long  journey,  going  by  stage 
through  Hartford,  New  York,  Princeton,  Philadel- 
phia and  Washington.  His  place  of  destination  was 
the  plantation  of  Nicholas  Edmunds,  in  Charlotte 
County,  Virginia,  about  ten  miles  from  the  Court 
House,  and  a  mile  from  any  residence.  The  school 
taught  by  Mr.  Parker  consisted  of  Mr.  Edmunds' 
family,  and  as  many  more  pupils  as  the  little  twenty- 
feet  square  log  school  house  would  accommodate. 
Here  young  Jenks  continued  the  study  of  Latin  and 
commenced  Greek.  Under  the  judicious  and  faith- 
ful guidance  of  his  teacher,  his  religious  convic- 
tions, which  he  had  before  leaving  home  as  the 
result  of  a  revival  in  the  neighborhood,  were  deep- 
ened, until  he  was  brought  to  a  saving  knowledge  of 
the  truth,  and  to  an  experience  of  the  peace  of  God 
which  passeth  all  understanding.  At  this  point  his 
religious  life  commenced,  to  be  continued  through 
all  the  changes  and  vicissitudes  of  subsequent  years. 
Prayer  now  became  his  delight  and  the  Bible  his 
constant  companion  and  guide. 

During  his  sojourn  in  Virginia  he  was  brought  into 
contact  with  wild  animal  life,  and  he  learned  to  use 
the  gun,  in  the  use  of  which  he  afterwards  became 
an  expert.  His  taste  for  Natural  History  was  here 
developed.  He  saw  nature  in  her  varied  aspects. 


10 


Squirrels,  rabbits,  opossums  and  reptiles  abounded 
in  the  woods  through  which  he  daily  passed,  and  fox 
hunting  and  boar  hunting  were  pastimes  in  which, 
boy  though  he  was,  he  not  unfrequently  engaged. 

At  the  close  of  the  year,  his  kind  friend  and  bene- 
factor having  decided  to  prosecute  his  studies  at  the 
Newton  Theological  Institution,  he  returned  to  his 
home  in  Southbridge,  where,  on  the  9th  of  June, 
1833,  he  was  publicly  baptised  and  received  as  a 
member  of  the  church.  During  his  absence  a 
brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  Hervey  Fitts,  had  become 
pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Middleboro,  and 
now  he  offered  his  young  relative  a  home  while  he 
should  pursue  his  studies  at  the  Pierce  Academy. 
Here  he  remained  another  year  and  then  entered 
Brown  University,  being  the  first  one  of  his  class  to 
be  matriculated.  He  was  now  in  the  beginning  of 
his  sixteenth  year,  small  in  stature  but  vigorous  in 
health  and  strength,  poor  in  purse,  rich  in  hope,  de- 
termined in  purpose,  and  filled  with  a  holy  enthusi- 
asm to  do  the  work  to  which  he  felt  that  he  had 
been  divinely  called.  Such  was  the  lad  who,  on  the 
second  day  of  the  term  called  on  President  Wayland 
to  know  what  he  could  do  to  pay  expenses.  Looking 
kindly  down  upon  him  the  good  President  gave  him 
work  in  his  garden,  for  which  he  paid  him  full 
wages.  This  was  his  first  experience  in  college  life, 
and  it  was  full  of  promise.  As  winter  set  in  and  he 
could  no  longer  do  garden  work,  he  obtained  per- 
mission of  the  Steward  to  take  charge  of  some  reci- 


It 

tation  rooms,  and  also  of  the  private  rooms  of  several 
of  the  college  officers.  He  sawed  wood,  carrying 
it  from  the  cellar  to  the  second,  third  and  fourth 
stories.  All  work  that  was  lawful  was  to  him  hon- 
orable. What  he  desired  was  to  pay  his  own  way 
and  be  independent.  During  his  Junior  and  Senior 
years  he  taught  in  a  Ladies'  School,  and  in  addition 
had  lads  in  his  room  as  private  scholars.  In  going 
to  and  from  college  in  vacations,  a  distance  of  forty 
miles,  he  usually  walked,  not  being  able  to  pay  a 
stage  coach  fare. 

There  were  at  this  time  two  tables  in  Commons 
Hall,  at  one  of  which  board  was  ninety-five  cents 
per  week,  and  at  the  other  one  dollar  and  a  quarter. 
Young  Jenks  commenced  at  the  former  table,  but 
finding  even  this  too  expensive,  he  left  and  boarded 
himself,  continuing  to  do  this  for  two  years,  at  an 
average  cost  of  fifty  cents  per  week.  At  one  time 
while  eating  his  frugal  breakfast  of  brown  bread  and 
molasses,  dried  herring  and  cold  water,  a  wealthy 
gentleman  whom  he  had  known  in  Middleboro,  un- 
expectedly called  at  his  room,  and  seeming  sur- 
prised, asked  him  if  that  was  his  usual  fare.  The 
reply  was  that  sometimes,  when  he  had  a  fire  he 
made  hasty  pudding,  or  boiled  some  rice.  A  five 
dollar  bill  which  was  sent  him  soon  afterwards  with 
a  suggestion  that  he  procure  more  wholesome  food, 
was  promptly  returned  with  sincere  and  most  grate- 
ful acknowledgments.  The  poor  student  was  happy 
and  contented;  his  present  living  met  his  wants; 


his  health  was  good,  his  appetite  was  excellent,  and 
he  did  not  wish  to  be  beholden  for  favors  which  it 
was  out  of  his  power  to  return.  We  are  reminded 
by  this  incident  of  the  reply  of  the  patriotic  Marion, 
to  the  British  officer  whom  he  had  invited  to  dine  on 
roast  potatoes.  Is  this,  said  the  officer  in  astonish- 
ment, the  fare  of  yourself  and  your  men  ?  Yes,  said 
the  imperturbable  Marion,  except  that  sometimes, 
when  we  can  get  it,  we  have  a  little  salt. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  what  was  the  daily 
college  routine  of  this  period.  The  first  bell  was 
rung  at  half  past  five.  Prayers  were  held  in  the  old 
chapel  at  a  quarter  before  six,  which  for  a  part  of 
the  year  would  be  at  candle  light.  Recitations  until 
seven  followed  prayers,  after  which  came  breakfast  in 
Commons  Hall,  and  then  recreation  until  nine  when 
study  hours  commenced.  The  second  hour  for  reci- 
tations was  eleven,  followed  by  dinner  at  twelve,  and 
recreation  until  two,  when  study  hours  again  com- 
menced. The  third  recitation  hour  was  from  four 
until  five,  when  all  assembled  in  the  chapel  once 
more  for  prayers,  after  which  came  a  declamation 
from  a  Junior,  or  an  original  piece  from  a  Senior, 
spoken  from  the  stage  in  front  of  the  Faculty.  Sup- 
per followed,  and  then  recreation  until  seven.  Study 
hours  in  the  evening  were  from  seven  until  nine, 
when  all  were  expected  to  retire.  A  division  of 
each  dormitory  was  assigned  to  a  member  of  the 
Faculty,  whose  duty  it  was  to  make  from  one  to 
three  visits  a  day  in  study  hours  to  see  if  all  were  in 


their  rooms.  Such  was  college  life  in  the  days  of 
Professor  Jenks.  During  his  entire  course  of  four 
years  he  never  had,  as  he  himself  states,  a  tardy 
mark,  nor  did  he  lose  a  day's  recitation  on  account 
of  sickness  or  absence.  He  attended  all  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Philermenian  Debating  Society  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  the  prayer  meetings  of  his  class 
on  Friday  evenings,  the  meetings  of  the  Religious 
Society  on  Wednesday  evenings,  and  the  monthly 
meetings  of  the  Society  for  Missionary  Inquiry. 
His  example  as  a  Christian  man  is  in  this  respect 
worthy  of  imitation.  During  a  part  of  his  course 
he  conducted  a  Bible  class  in  Olneyville,  and  dur- 
ing his  Senior  year  he  was  Superintendent  of  the 
Third  Baptist,  now  the  Union  Baptist  Sunday  School. 
He  was  strict  in  his  attendance  upon  Dr.  Wayland's 
Bible  class,  which  was  held  each  Sunday  afternoon 
after  the  preaching  service.  The  Dr.  was  accus- 
tomed to  use  the  Greek  text,  arranging  to  go  through 
the  New  Testament  every  four  years.  When  he 
reached  Revelation,  says  Jenks,  he  would  say: 
"  Young  gentlemen  we  will  begin  the  New  Testa- 
ment again,  as  I  do  not  understand  Revelation,  but 
hope  to  some  time,  probably  not  in  this  life." 

When  he  entered  college  his  class  numbered  ac- 
cording to  the  catalogue,  forty-three,  and  he  found 
himself  standing  in  scholarship  forty-one,  or  nearly 
at  the  foot.  He  had  not  the  grammatical  knowledge 
of  Latin  and  Greek  which  others  of  his  class  pos- 
sessed, who  had  fitted  at  the  schools  of  Boston  and 


14 

Providence,  and  at  the  renowned  academies  of  An- 
dover  and  Exeter.  He  was  about  the  youngest  in 
age,  and  in  purse  certainly  the  poorest.  The  class 
numbered  at  graduation  thirty,  and  his  rank  was 
nine,  having  assigned  him  for  his  part  at  Commence- 
ment, a  conference  with  Edward  D.  Pearce  and 
Alexander  Burgess.  This  is  the  class,  be  it  remem- 
bered, which  Professor  Gammell  was  accustomed  to 
characterize  as  the  ablest  in  the  point  of  talent  and 
influence  of  which  he  had  personal  knowledge. 
Among  its  members  was  Robinson,  late  the  honored 
President  of  the  University;  Bradley,  the  Valedicto- 
rian, Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Rhode 
Island;  Ames,  the  Salutatorian,  who  died  soon  after 
graduation;  Morton,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Massachusetts;  Burgess,  Bishop  of  Illinois; 
Lothrop,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary to  the  Court  of  Russia;  Wilson,  Judge  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Illinois,  and  the  leading  lawyer 
in  that  State;  Thomas  A.  Jenckes,  one  of  the  ablest 
Representatives  to  Congress  from  this  or  any  State, 
the  author  of  Civil  Service  Reform;  Cole,  President 
of  a  Theological  Institution;  Clarke,  for  nine  years 
City  Solicitor  of  Providence;  and  Arnold,  Bowers, 
Dike,  Reed,  Stockbridge,  Sumner  and  Tustin,  all 
Doctors  of  Divinity.  To  have  attained  the  rank  of 
nine  in  such  a  class,  under  adverse  circumstances, 
indicates  perseverance,  and  talent  of  no  ordinary 
character. 

At  length  the  last  term  of  the  Senior  year  drew  to 
a  close,  and  he  was   led  to  recall   the  words  of  his 


mother  in  his  Freshman  year:  "John,  by  being 
faithful  to  your  daily  work  as  assigned  you  by  the 
Faculty,  and  by  daily  consecration  of  yourself  as  a 
Christian,  make  the  most  of  your  college  course,  for 
it  ought  to  be  the  happiest  period  of  your  life.  Your 
daily  work  is  planned  by  others,  and  you  have  only 
to  do  your  duty  without  care  or  anxiety.  But  after 
graduation  you  will  have  to  plan  for  yourself  as  well 
as  execute,  and  coming  into  contact  with  unreason- 
able people,  you  will  find  life  very  different  from 
your  present  experience."  Wise  counsel  this,  show- 
ing the  home  influences  to  which  he  had  been  sub- 
jected in  childhood,  and  giving  a  key  to  his  character 
and  usefulness  as  afterwards  developed.  He  had 
indeed  been  faithful  in  the  performance  of  every 
allotted  task,  and  he  had  daily  sought  the  guidance 
and  blessing  of  Him  to  whom  he  had  consecrated 
his  life.  He  had  spent  for  his  education  just  nine 
hundred  dollars,  of  which  he  had  earned  two  thirds 
by  manual  labor  and  teaching,  borrowing  from  the 
Education  Society  the  remaining  three  hundred. 
With  this  exception  he  had  fulfilled  the  Apostle's 
injunction,  "Owe  no  man  anything."  While  he  was 
planning  for  the  future,  President  Wayland  received 
a  letter  from  one  Judge  Warren,  residing  in  a  small 
village  in  Southern  Georgia,  requesting  him  to  send 
them  immediately  a  teacher  who  was  both  a  gradu- 
ate and  a  Christian.  Knowing  that  Abolitionism 
was  an  agitating  subject  in  the  land,  the  offer  was 
made  to  Jenks,  who  had  spent  a  year  in  Virginia, 
and  was  presumed  to  be  more  or  less  familiar  with 


i6 

slavery.  Getting  excused  from  the  exercises  of 
Commencement,  which  occurred  in  September,  and 
procuring  a  suitable  outfit,  he  set  out  for  the  South, 
arriving  at  his  place  of  destination  in  August. 
Americus,  which  was  the  name  of  the  village,  was 
then  a  small  hamlet  in  the  forest,  consisting  of  about 
a  dozen  families,  who  two  years  before  had  emigrated 
from  the  Carolinas,  and  settled  upon  Government 
land  which  had  belonged  to  the  Lower  Creek  Indians. 
There  were  about  forty  families  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  like  other  frontier  communities,  they  exhibited  a 
civilization  but  little  removed  from  that  of  the  Abor- 
igines. With  but  few  exceptions  they  were  poor  and 
wretched.  Horse  racing,  drinking,  swearing,  cursing 
and  ignorance  everywhere  abounded.  In  the  young 
graduate  they  found  indeed  what  they  so  much 
needed,  a  Christian  teacher.  Devoting  all  his  ener- 
,gies  to  the  work  before  him  he  soon  won  respect, 
and  secured  from  the  better  class  hearty  co-operation. 
Here  he  remained  eighteen  months,  teaching  in  a 
little  log  school  house,  preaching  in  the  Court  house 
so  called,  attending  funerals,  visiting  the  sick,  and  in 
various  ways  elevating  the  tone  of  society  and  infus- 
ing into  it  the  principles  and  restraints  of  Christianity. 
The  little  hamlet  has  now  become  a  flourishing  city, 
and  near  the  spot  where  he  ministered  to  an  infant, 
struggling  church  is  now  a  fine  brick  meeting  house, 
which  it  was  his  privilege  in  later  years  (1890)  to 
assist  in  dedicating. 

During   the  latter  part  of    his  stay  in  Americus, 
there  was  a  powerful  revival  of  religion  which  ex- 


tended  throughout  the  neighborhood  far  and  wide. 
Some  of  his  older  pupils  and  many  of  his  hearers 
were  converted.  One  of  the  most  prominent  converts 
was  a  man  of  powerful  frame  and  wicked  life,  who 
for  months  had  dogged  his  path  with  a  loaded  gun, 
intending  to  shoot  him  down  for  correcting  a  young 
nephew  in  the  school  room.  Indeed,  he  had  once 
seized  his  horse  by  the  bridle  while  crossing  a  creek, 
and  struck  him  a  violent  blow.  Now  he  became  the 
teacher's  warmest  friend. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1840,  he  resigned  his 
position  at  Americus,  to  accept  a  call  to  become  the 
colleague  of  Dr.  Mercer,  the  popular  and  beloved 
pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Washington,  Wilkes 
County.  This  at  the  time  was  perhaps  the  wealthiest 
and  most  aristocratic  inland  town  of  Georgia,  having 
three  churches,  a  bank,  a  fine  Female  Seminary,  and 
Mercer  University  not  far  away.  Here  the  Index, 
still  the  organ  of  the  denomination  in  the  State,  was 
published.  Dr.  Mercer,  who  was  now  advanced  in 
years  and  in  feeble  health,  was  regarded  as  the  most 
noted  preacher  of  his  faith  in  all  the  South.  He  was 
for  several  years  editor  of  the  Index,  which  he  had 
purchased  of  Dr.  Brantly  and  transferred  from  Phila- 
delphia, and  he  was  the  founder  of  the  University 
which  bears  his  name.  Among  his  hearers  were 
many  wealthy  planters,  including  Robert  Tombs, 
afterwards  the  famous  secessionist,  and  Alexander  H. 
Stevens,  the  noted  Vice  President  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  Here  Mr.  Jenks  labored  with  success 


i8 

eleven  months,  occupying  the  pulpit  Sunday  morn- 
ings, conducting  the  prayer  and  conference  meetings, 
visiting  the  sick,  and  aiding  in  the  publication  of  the 
weekly  paper.  As  he  was  intending  at  this  time  to 
devote  his  life  to  missionary  service  in  China  he 
studied  medicine  with  Doct.  Ficklen  a  noted  phy- 
sician of  the  place,  whose  daughter,  it  may  be  added, 
was  afterwards  married  to  Dr.  Boyce,  a  graduate  of 
Brown,  and  the  founder  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Louisville. 

Dr.  Mercer  was  now  rapidly  approaching  his  end, 
and  the  church  accordingly  extended  a  formal  and 
unanimous  invitation  to  Mr.  Jenks  to  be  ordained 
and  become  their  settled  pastor.  This  invitation,  so 
flattering  to  a  young  man  not  yet  twenty-one,  and  so 
indicative  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  his  pulpit 
talents  and  resources  were  regarded  by  an  intelligent 
community,  he  felt  compelled  to  decline,  not  having 
had  a  theological  training.  An  invitation  to  become 
co-principal  of  the  Female  Seminary,  and  also  an 
adjunct  professor  in  Mercer  University  he  also  de- 
clined, preferring  to  take  charge  for  ten  months  of  a 
planter's  school  in  Taliafere  County.  He  returned 
home  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1842,  having 
labored  in  the  South  three  years  and  four  months. 

Peirce  Academy,  with  which  Mr.  Jenks  was 
henceforth  to  be  so  prominently  identified,  and  where 
the  prime  of  his  life  was  spent,  had  been  founded  as 
early  as  the  year  1808,  by  Deacon  Levi  Peirce,  for 
the  twofold  purpose  of  securing  a  hall  for  public 


19 

worship  and  rooms  for  a  school.  Like  many  other 
institutions  of  a  similiar  character,  the  first  few  years 
of  its  existence  were  years  of  struggle  and  varied  for- 
tunes. In  1828,  a  house  of  worship  having  been  built 
by  Deacon  Peirce  on  the  lot  adjoining  the  Academy, 
both  the  house  and  the  academy  building,  with  the  lots 
on  which  they  stood,  were  deeded  to  the  Central  Bap- 
tist Society.  Subsequently  the  Academy  passed  into 
the  hands  of  trustees,  an  act  of  incorporation 
having  been  obtained  from  the  State  Legislature  in 
1835.  The  School  was  now  in  a  languishing  con- 
dition, indeed,  was  almost  defunct,  so  that  its  revival 
to  an  ordinary  mind  seemed  an  herculean  if  not 
a  hopeless  task.  The  number  of  its  pupils  had 
dwindled  down  to  fifteen,  the  building  was  old  and 
dilapidated,  there  were  no  funds,  and  there  was  no 
apparatus,  not  even  a  blackboard  upon  the  walls. 
Under  these  discouraging  circumstances  the  position 
of  Principal  was  offered  to  Mr.  Jenks,  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  he  was  to  take  the  School  into  his 
own  hands,  run  it  upon  its  merits,  and  pay  all 
expenses.  Here  was  the  great  opportunity  of  his 
life.  He  saw  all  the  difficulties  before  him,  but  he 
was  not  dismayed.  He  had  been  accustomed  from 
boyhood  to  habits  of  self-reliance.  He  had  resist- 
less energy,  a  courage  that  knew  no  danger,  and  a 
boundless  faith  in  the  Supreme  Ruler  and  Disposer, 
to  whom  he  had  committed  all  his  ways.  Rejecting 
flattering  offers  of  other  positions  he  accepted  this 
one,  mainly,  as  he  himself  states,  because  this  was  a 


2O 

private  institution,  founded  under  the  auspices  of  a 
denomination  to  which  he  was  warmly  attached,  and 
where  he  could  cultivate  without  let  or  hindrance 
the  religious  sentiments,  as  well  as  train  the  intellect. 
It  is  no  disparagement  perhaps  to  add,  that  Middle- 
boro  was  the  home  of  one  whom  he  had  loved  from 
boyhood,  and  to  whom  on  attaining  to  manhood  he 
had  plighted  his  troth. 

On  the  first  Monday  in  March,  1842,  he  com- 
menced the  term  with  eleven  pupils,  closing  with 
thirty.  The  second  term  he  commenced  with  sixty 
pupils  and  closed  with  eighty.  His  success  was  now 
assured,  and  he  entered  into  matrimonial  relations, 
making  it  his  permanent  home  with  his  father-in- 
law,  the  late  Major  Elisha  Tucker.  His  wife  was 
an  only  child,  the  granddaughter  of  the  founder  of 
the  Academy,  and  a  lady  of  rare  personal  attractions 
and  moral  worth.  For  nearly  forty-two  years  they 
walked  in  happy  union  such  as  is  seldom  accorded 
to  mortals  in  this  present  life,  until  in  July,  1884,  the 
golden  cord  was  severed.  During  all  this  period  of 
complete  domestic  bliss,  their  hopes,  their  joys,  their 
interests,  their  fortunes  were  one,  and  not  a  jarring 
word  of  discord  ever  passed  their  lips. 

Having  by  strict  economy  succeeded  in  obtaining 
a  valuable  apparatus,  and  having  a  School  of  one 
hundred  pupils  with  a  constantly  increasing  atten- 
dance, Mr.  Jenks  now  began  to  indulge  his  passion 
for  the  study  of  nature,  particularly  in  Ornithology, 
taking  lessons  of  a  celebrated  taxidermist  in  Boston 


21 

for  the  purpose  of  making  a  collection.  In  this  his 
enthusiasm  knew  no  bounds.  It  became  no  uncom- 
mon thing  for  him  to  rise  before  daylight  and  spend 
two  hours  with  his  gun,  mounting  his  birds  from 
nine  until  midnight.  In  this  manner,  and  by  pur- 
chase and  exchange,  he  in  the  course  of  ten  years 
secured  a  Museum  superior  to  that  of  any  academy 
in  New  England,  and  which  attracted  the  attention 
of  men  of  science.  It  had  cost  him  an  outlay  of 
thousands  of  dollars,  besides  an  infinite  amount  of 
time  and  labor.  Eventually  he  presented  it  to  the 
Academy.  Upon  the  closing  up  of  the  Academy  in 
the  year  1879,  the  trustees  presented  it  to  the  South 
Jersey  Institute  in  Bridgeton,  where  it  is  now  known 
and  designated  as  the  "  Peirce  Collection." 

At  the  second  meeting  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  Mr.  Jenks  be- 
came a  member,  signing  the  constitution  at  the  same 
time  with  his  beloved  teacher  in  College,  Dr.  Cas- 
well.  The  annual  meetings  of  this  Association  he 
attended  with  greater  or  less  regularity  up  to  the  last 
year  of  his  life.  I  cannot  learn  from  the  published 
proceedings  that  he  was  prominent  on  committees, 
or  that  he  often  read  papers.  He  was  too  busy  a 
man  by  far  to  make  original  investigations.  His  life 
work  as  a  scientist  was  that  of  a  collector,  and  this 
work  he  loved.  His  connection  with  this  Associa- 
tion brought  him  into  pleasant  relations  with  distin- 
guished men,  with  some  of  whom,  especially  Pro- 
fessor Baird  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and  Pro- 


22 

fessor  Agassiz,  who  was  not  unfrequently  his  hon- 
ored guest  at  Middleboro,  he  formed  intimacies 
which  only  death  interrupted.  To  the  latter  he  ren- 
dered important  service  in  the  preparation  of  his 
great  work  on  the  Embryology  of  the  Turtle ;  a  ser- 
vice which  the  author  gratefully  acknowledges  in  his 
preface.  About  this  time  he  was  appointed  Profes- 
sor of  Zoology  in  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural 
Society,  a  position  of  honor  without  salary,  the 
duties  being  merely  of  consultation.  The  meetings 
were  held  fortnightly  in  Boston.  On  one  occasion  a 
member,  who  was  at  the  same  time  State  Senator, 
presented  a  petition  in  favor  of  rescinding  the  law 
that  protected  the  Robin,  saying  he  had  found  it  very 
destructive  to  fruits.  Through  Mr.  Jenks'  influence 
the  petition  was  laid  upon  the  table,  he  promising  to 
ascertain  the  food  of  the  bird  for  every  month  of 
the  year.  This  he  did  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner, 
showing  that  the  Robin  was  far  more  beneficial  by 
destroying  worms  and  insects  during  ten  months  in 
the  year,  than  destructive  by  eating  garden  fruits  in 
July  and  August.  The  report  was  published  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Society,  and  has  often  been 
quoted  as  an  authority  upon  the  subject  of  which  it 
treats. 

Time  will  not  allow  me  to  enter  further  into  the 
details  of  his  career  in  Middleboro.  During  the 
twenty-nine  years  of  his  administration  as  Principal 
of  the  Academy,  it  attained  to  a  very  high  rank,  hav- 
ing at  one  time  a  roll  call  of  three  hundred  pupils  of 


23 

both  sexes,  averaging  over  eighteen  years  of  age. 
Among  his  corps  of  assistants  were  the  noted 
teachers,  Charles  C.  Burnett,  and  John  M.  Manning, 
both  graduates  of  Brown.  A  new  building  was 
erected  and  again  and  again  enlarged,  partly  at  the 
Principal's  expense.  Distinguished  divines  were 
invited  to  address  the  Society  for  Missionary  Inquiry, 
and  distinguished  orators  and  poets  the  Literary 
Debating  Society.  Crowds  of  alumni  and  friends 
attended  the  annual  graduating  exercises  similar  to  a 
college  commencement,  making  the  town  joyous  as 
on  a  festive  occasion.  In  1858  occurred  the  semi- 
centennial of  the  Academy,  and  it  was  made  a 
Jubilee  Celebration,  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Hallet,  an 
alumnus,  giving  the  oration,  George  C.  Burgess 
the  poem,  and  Mr.  Jenks  the  historical  address. 
The  year  following  he  spent  five  months  in  travel 
abroad,  visiting  the  principal  cities  and  places  of 
interest,  and  delighting  in  the  great  Cabinets  and 
Museums,  to  which  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Pro- 
fessor Agassiz  proved  an  open  sesame.  During  the 
Civil  War  many  of  his  pupils  enlisted,  and  the 
School,  like  all  other  institutions  of  learning,  felt  the 
depressing  effects  of  domestic  strife.  Afterwards 
high  schools  and  normal  schools,  established  and 
maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  took  the 
place  of  academies,  and  private  schools  one  after 
another  ceased  to  exist.  Notwithstanding  all  this 
Peirce  Academy  continued  to  flourish  until  the  year 
1871,  when  the  Principal,  having  completed  his 


24 

allotted  term  of  thirty-three  years,  or  a  generation 
from  the  time  of  his  graduation  from  College,  and  in 
accordance  with  a  determination  previously  ex- 
pressed, handed  in  his  resignation  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees.  In  taking  leave  of  him  in  this  connection, 
an  incident  which  I  find  recorded  in  his  journal  may 
be  of  interest,  illustrating  as  it  does  the  widespread 
reputation  and*  influence  of  the  man.* 

Soon  after  the  war,  a  fine  looking  gentleman  in 
middle  life  called  at  the  Academy  door,  and 
remarked  that  being  on  the  way  from  Boston  to  New 
Bedford,  he  thought  he  would  stop  long  enough  to 
visit  Peirce  Academy,  of  the  fame  of  which  he  had 
heard  at  various  times.  Inviting  him  to  a  seat  on 
the  platform,  the  Principal  called  up  the  first  class, 
which  was  in  French.  The  stranger  requested  that 
he  might  take  a  seat  with  the  class  and  recite. 
Humoring  this  singular  whim,  his  request  was 
granted,  and  he  was  called  upon  in  turn  to  translate, 
which  he  did  very  creditably.  The  next  class  was 
in  Algebra,  and  keeping  his  seat  the  stranger  desired 
to  try  his  hand  at  that.  In  this  also  he  succeeded, 
working  out  a  problem  on  the  blackboard.  Till 

*The  Hon.  John  S.  Brayton,  Id/-  D.,  a  graduate  of  Brown  University, 
in  the  class  of  1851,  thus  writes  respecting  his  early  instructor : 

"I  attended  Pierce  Academy  in  1845,  and  have  maintained  the 
acquaintance  which  I  then  formed  with  Professor  Jenks  up  to  his  death. 
He  was  a  warm  friend  of  mine.  Mr.  Jenks  led  a  most  active  life ;  he 
was  a  great  worker  ;  enthusiastic  in  everything  in  which  he  became 
interested  ;  was  never  tired  in  doing  good,  and  always  ready  to  aid 
and  assist  those  who  were  deserving  and  needy.  I  regret  that  the 
Corporation  of  the  University  did  not,  during  his  life  time,  bestow 
upon  him  an  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  which  he  justly 
merited." 


noon  he  kept  his  seat,  with  the  several  classes,  and 
was  called  upon  in  turn  to  recite.  At  the  close  of 
the  School  he  explained.  My  brother,  he  re- 
marked, some  years  ago  was  a  pupil  here,  and 
fitted  for  the  Academy  at  West  Point,  where  he  was 
graduated.  He  was  afterwards  appointed  one  of  the 
Professors,  continuing  at  the  Institution  until  he  died. 
Of  you  he  always  spoke  as  laying  the  foundation  of 
his  success  in  life.  I  am  a  surgeon  in  the  Navy,  and 
for  years  have  been  sailing  around  the  world,  stop- 
ping for  weeks  now  in  one  port,  now  in  another. 
Our  Commandants,  while  we  are  thus  detained,  are 
in  the  habit  of  inviting  the  officers  of  our  merchant 
marine  who  may  happen  to  be  in  port  to  a  banquet 
on  board  the  man  of  war.  On  such  occasions  the 
captains  and  mates  are  introduced  to  each  other,  and 
naturally  inquire  for  each  others  homes.  One  would 
reply,  "  I  am  from  Cape  Cod."  And  another,  "  And 
so  am  I."  Well,  "were  you  ever  in  Middleboro"? 
"Yes,  I  went  to  school  at  Peirce  Academy."  "And 
so  did  I."  "  And  do  tell  me  if  Professor  Jenks  is 
still  Principal."  "Yes,  and  as  bright  and  active  and 
good  as  ever."  Such  conversations  I  have  listened 
to  in  every  foreign  port  where  my  vessel  has  been 
detained.  For  my  part  I  could  only  say,  I  had  a 
brother  taught  by  Professor  Jenks,  and  only  regretted 
that  I  had  not  had  that  same  privilege.  Now  I  can 
say  I  have  been  a  pupil  at  Peirce  Academy,  and  have 
recited  to  Professor  Jenks.  (Whether  the  stranger 
received  a  certificate  of  his  proficiency  in  French 
and  Algebra  is  not  stated.) 


26 

The  time  seemed  now  to  have  arrived  for  him  to 
carry  into  execution  a  purpose  which  he  had  long 
formed,  of  collecting  for  Brown  University  a 
Museum  of  Natural  History.  Professor  Agassiz 
had  once  remarked  in  his  presence  that  there  were 
more  investigators  than  collectors.  The  thought 
was  to  him  an  inspiration,  and  from  that  moment  he 
determined  to  spend  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in 
thus  advancing  the  cause  of  science  and  religion. 
On  the  same  day  when  he  sent  in  his  resignation  as 
Principal,  he  addressed  a  formal  communication  to 
his  friend  and  former  instructor,  Professor  Caswell, 
now  President  of  the  University,  off ering  his  services. 
"  For  while,"  he  said,  "  the  College  is  one  of  the 
oldest  institutions  in  the  country,  there  is  no  one  half 
as  old  that  has  not  better  facilities  for  illustrating 
any  branch  of  Natural  Science,  and  I  am  positively 
ashamed  of  my  Alma  Mater."  The  return  mail 
brought  a  reply  saying,  "  Come  and  dine  with  me  on 
Saturday  and  we  will  talk  Natural  History."  In 
conversation  the  President  was  found  to  be  keenly 
alive  to  the  existing  deficiencies  of  the  College,  but 
said,  "  There  is  not  a  dollar  in  the  treasury  that  can 
be  devoted  to  the  building  up  of  a  Museum."  "And 
there  never  will  be,"  was  the  reply,  "until  a  be- 
ginning is  made."  The  result  was  a  beginning. 
Contributions  to  the  amount  of  a  thousand  dollars 
were  at  once  secured  from  friends  of  the  enterprise. 
Two  floor  cases  for  minerals,  fossils  and  shells,  and 
an  upright  wall  case  for  mounted  birds  were  placed 


in  Rhode  Island  Hall,  and  in  three  months  time  they 
were  filled  and  arranged  by  Professor  Jenks  in  readi- 
ness for  the  Commencement  in  June. 

A  pleasing  incident  maybe  mentioned  in  this  con- 
nection. The  Rev.  Frederic  Denison,  a  loyal 
alumnus  of  Brown,  had  been  for  many  years  mak- 
ing a  collection  of  Indian  relics  in  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island,  and  was  now  preparing  an  account  of 
them  for  a  history  of  Westerly,  where  he  was  settled 
as  pastor  of  a  church.  A  paragraph  in  the  Provi- 
dence Journal  referring  to  this  collection  caught  the 
eye  of  Professor  Jenks,  and  soon  he  had  an  account 
of  it  from  the  author  himself.  Before  there  was 
time  for  a  reply  the  Professor  was  in  the  pastor's 
study,  his  face  all  radiant  with  joy  as  he  gazed  upon 
the  six  hundred  relics  illustrating  the  history,  manners 
and  customs  of  the  aborigines.  The  owner  could 
have  sold  them  for  a  handsome  sum,  but  he  gladly 
gave  them  as  a  foundation  for  the  new  Museum,  and 
they  were  at  once  transferred  to  the  cases  in  Rhode 
Island  Hall.  The  next  day  a  collector  from  Yale 
appeared  on  the  ground,  but  he  was  twenty-four 
hours  too  late.  The  relics  had  gone.  To  this  col- 
lection Mr.  Denison  and  others  have  made  additions, 
until  it  now  numbers  upwards  of  a  thousand  speci- 
mens, constituting  a  most  interesting  and  valuable 
part  of  the  Anthropological  department. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  alumni  in  June  following, 
the  Professor  made  known  his  plans  and  purposes  in 
regard  to  the  Museum,  and  solicited  the  hearty  co- 


28 

operation  of  all  graduates  and  friends  of  the  College. 
He  stated  that  during  the  past  ten  weeks  he  had 
obtained  and  mounted  as  a  beginning,  three  hundred 
and  forty-three  specimens  of  birds,  fifty  birds'  nests 
with  eggs  fresh  from  the  forest  and  field,  twenty 
reptiles,  and  quite  a  miscellaneous  collection,  includ- 
ing Indian  relics,  and  a  few  specimens  of  minerals 
and  shells  that  he  had  found  stored  away  in  the  base- 
ment. His  remarks  were  received  with  applause. 
President  Caswell  in  his  opening  speech  at  the  Com- 
mencement dinner  invited  the  guests  before  leaving 
the  grounds  to  visit  the  Hall,  and  see  the  beginning 
that  had  been  made  in  what  he  hoped  might  prove 
an  important  means  of  culture.  In  his  annual  report 
to  the  Corporation  he  referred  to  the  subject  again, 
and  spoke  of  the  valuable  labors  of  Professor  Jenks, 
whom  he  designated  as  a  "  well  informed  naturalist 
and  a  most  skillful  taxidermist." 

But  though  a  favorable  beginning  had  thus  been 
made,  the  Corporation  was  not  yet  prepared  to 
appropriate  a  dollar  towards  the  continuance  of  the 
work,  much  less  to  appoint  a  permanent  Curator  with 
a  salary.  A  special  arrangement  was  therefore  made 
with  President  Caswell,  he  guaranteeing  to  furnish 
funds  through  private  subscriptions.  In  this  he  hap- 
pily succeeded,  securing  during  the  year  upwards  of 
six  thousand  dollars.  The  enterprise  was  now  fairly 
inaugurated.  About  this  time  the  United  States  Fish 
Commission  received  its  first  appropriation  from  Con- 
gress, Professor  Baird  being  the  Commissioner  and 


29 

Woods  Holl  the  place  of  operations.  As  Professor 
Jenks  was  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Baird,  he  was 
naturally  solicited  to  become  his  assistant.  This  of 
course  he  could  not  now  do.  He,  however,  con- 
sented to  attach  himself  to  the  Commission  as  a 
supernumerary,  working  as  he  had  opportunity  with- 
out pay,  and  being  allowed  the  duplicates  for  Brown. 
This  was  a  fortunate  circumstance,  as  it  gave  him  a 
prestige  at  the  outset,  and  a  valuable  collection  of 
Marine  Fauna.  Another  fortunate  circumstance: 
John  Cassin,  a  noted  Ornithologist  and  author,  hav- 
ing just  died,  his  collection,  in  skin  and  properly  la- 
belled, was  on  sale  in  Philadelphia.  The  Professor 
saw  the  advertisement,  and  without  waiting  to  write, 
with  his  accustomed  promptness,  took  the  next  train 
for  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love.  The  price  was 
three  hundred  dollars,  and  the  number  of  skins  was 
twenty-five  hundred  more  or  less.  The  money  was 
at  once  paid,  and  the  collection,  numbering  on  count 
upwards  of  four  thousand,  was  expressed  to  Provi- 
dence. The  next  day  a  letter  was  received  from 
Professor  Agassiz  wanting  it  for  Harvard.  He  also, 
like  the  Yale  collector,  was  twenty-four  hours  too 
late.  The  famous  Blanding  collection,  to  which 
Dr.  Carpenter  of  Pawtucket  had  made  allusion  at 
the  Alumni  meeting  in  June,  was  through  the  perse- 
verance and  zeal  of  the  new  Curator,  transferred 
from  its  temporary  quarters  at  the  homestead  in 
Rehoboth  to  Rhode  Island  Hall.  The  founder  of 
this  collection,  Dr.  William  Blanding,  was  a  native 


3° 

of  Rehoboth,  and  a  graduate  of  Brown  in  the  class 
of  1801.  Having  accumulated  a  competency  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  he  had  devoted  the  closing 
years  of  his  life  to  his  favorite  study  of  Natural 
History,  and  to  the  gathering  from  every  quarter  of 
the  globe  of  minerals,  shells,  fossils,  birds,  quadru- 
peds, reptiles,  coins,  medals  and  relics,  making  a  col- 
lection believed  at  one  time  to  be  the  largest  of  any 
private  collection  in  the  United  States.  He  died  in 
Rehoboth  where  he  was  born,  leaving  his  treasures 
to  distant  relatives,  who  were  only  too  glad  to  place 
them  in  the  keeping  of  Professor  Jenks. 

But  now  the  Corporation  was  in  trouble  in  regard 
to  the  Agricultural  Fund,  so-called,  the  income  of 
which  had  thus  far  been  appropriated  towards  pay- 
ing the  tuition  of  beneficiaries  designated  by  the 
State  Legislature,  without  any  special  provision  on 
the  part  of  the  College  for  instruction  in  Agriculture 
and  the  Mechanic  Arts.  An  Investigating  Commit- 
tee had  been  appointed  by  Congress  to  inquire  into 
the  use  each  State  was  making  of  the  funds  created 
by  the  sale  of  the  Agricultural  Lands.  This  Com- 
mittee required  that  the  Corporation  create  a  Profes- 
sorship of  Agriculture,  and  give  special  instruction 
to  the  beneficiaries,  otherwise  the  State  would  be 
impeached  and  a  demand  made  for  a  return  of  the 
Fund.  In  this  emergency  the  Curator  was  earnestly 
requested  to  add  to  his  duties  the  work  of  a  Profes- 
sor of  Agriculture,  his  familiarity  with  domestic  ani- 
mals, and  his  experience  in  farming  admirably  quali- 


31 

fying  him  for  the  difficult  and  important  position. 
An  outline  of  twenty  lectures  hastily  prepared, 
showing  what  he  could  do  in  this  line,  was  read  be- 
fore the  Joint  Committees  of  the  Legislature  and  the 
College.  All  parties  were  satisfied,  and  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  Corporation,  in  June,  1872,  he 
was  formally  appointed  Director  of  the  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  and  Lecturer  on  Special  Branches 
of  Agriculture.  Subsequently  his  title  was  changed 
to  Professor  of  Agricultural  Zoology,  and  Curator 
of  the  Museum  of  Natural  History.  This  title  he 
retained  until  the  day  of  his  death,  giving  lectures 
as  proposed,  attending  the  meetings  of  the  Faculty, 
and  sustaining  with  increasing  credit  the  important 
department  of  instruction  committed  to  his  charge. 
In  his  final  report  to  President  Andrews,  published 
since  his  decease,  he  says:  "For  the  twentieth 
time  as  Professor  of  Agricultural  Zoology,  I  have 
delivered  my  annual  course  of  lectures  on  Agricul- 
tural topics,  each  year  revised  and  improved,  to  the 
members  of  the  Senior  Class  enjoying  the  benefit  of 
the  State  Agricultural  Scholarships,  and  have  only 
words  of  commendation  as  to  both  the  deportment 
of  the  students,  and  the  interest  manifested  in  the 
subjects  treated." 

It  would  be  interesting  did  time  allow,  to  trace 
from  these  feeble  beginnings  the  steady  and  continu- 
ous growth  of  our  present  Museum  of  Anthropology, 
and  the  Jenks  Museum  of  Zoology.  Through  the 
personal  solicitations  of  the  zealous  and  indefatigable 


32 

Curator,  and  by  means  of  circulars  and  letters,  con- 
tributions from  alumni  and  friends  have  been  received 
almost  daily  during  all  the  twenty-three  years  of  his 
administration.  The  Zoological  Gardens  of  New 
York,  the  Smithsonian  Institution  at  Washington,  the 
Fish  Commission  at  Woods  Holl,  and  the  Museums 
of  Harvard,  Boston,  and  elsewhere,  have  all  been 
laid  under  contribution  for  their  duplicate  treasures. 
Many  of  the  finest  and  rarest  specimens  of  Ornithol- 
ogy he  himself  shot  in  the  wilds  of  Florida.  They 
are  all  mentioned  in  detail  in  his  annual  reports  to 
the  President  of  the  University.  In  1871  he  states 
that  the  collection  in  Rhode  Island  Hall  numbered 
some  fifteen  hundred  specimens;  in  1872,  eight 
thousand;  in  1873,  twenty-five  thousand;  in  1874, 
thirty-four  thousand;  in  1877,  thirty-nine  thousand; 
in  1878,  forty-nine  thousand.  These  figures  give 
only  an  approximate  idea  of  its  growth.  Some  of 
the  contributions  have  come  from  remote  quarters  of 
the  globe.  Thus  we  find  mentioned  in  his  reports, 
specimens  of  the  various  woods  of  Burma,  neatly 
prepared  and  labelled,  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  N.  Cush- 
ing;  specimens  of  Serpula,  Pectens  and  Pottery,  from 
the  Rev.  A.  A.  Bennett,  of  Japan;  and  a  unique  and 
valuable  gift  from  the  lamented  Hartsock  illustrating 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  natives  in  the  interior 
of  Africa.  From  Horace  F.  Carpenter  of  Providence, 
came  a  complete  set  of  the  shells  of  Rhode  Island, 
land,  fresh  water  and  marine;  from  Professor  W. 
W.  Bailey  an  Herbarium,  and  specimens  in  Botany 


33 

beautifully  mounted;  from  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion a  complete  set  of  North  American  Herpetology. 
The  class  of  1878  contributed  a  fine  skin  of  a  walrus, 
weighing  in  its  natural  state  fully  three  thousand 
pounds.  This  the  Professor  stuffed  at  his  home  in 
Middleboro.  The  Rev.  Dr.  E.  R.  Beadle,  a  Presby- 
terian clergyman  of  Philadelphia  now  deceased,  gave 
most  valuable  fossils,  and  various  gifts  from  year  to 
year,  including  a  Royal  Japanese  Palanquin  of  most 
exquisite  gilt  and  lacquer  finish,  richly  embellished 
with  the  State  seal  and  the  Emperor's  coat  of  arms. 
The  late  Zachariah  Allen  contributed  a  genuine  suit 
of  ancient  metallic  armor,  with  its  accompaniment 
of  sword  and  halberd,  cross  bow  and  fire  lock, 
dating  back  to  the  year  1500.  The  family  of  Mr. 
Allen  also  contributed  a  fine  collection  of  shells  with 
cabinet  case.  From  Professor  Packard  came  instru- 
ments of  stone  and  bronze  illustrating  Prehistoric 
Anthropology  in  Europe.  These  have  all  been 
arranged  and  labelled  by  the  Curator,  and  most  of 
the  specimens  in  Zoology  have  been  mounted,  stuffed 
and  otherwise  prepared  by  his  own  skillful  hands. 

In  the  Winter  and  Spring  of  1874,  Prof essor  Jenks 
spent  five  months  hunting  in  the  miasmatic  swamps 
and  everglades  around  Lake  Okechobee  in  Southern 
Florida,  a  detailed  account  of  which  he  afterwards 
published.  As  a  result  of  this  tour  he  collected  at 
his  own  expense,  and  presented  to  the  Museum,  one 
hundred  rare  birds,  two  hundred  rare  eggs,  a  miscel- 
laneous variety  of  fishes,  reptiles,  animals,  insects, 


34 

and  relics  of  the  Seminole  Indians.  The  year  1885, 
following  the  lamented  death  of  his  wife,  he  spent 
in  travel,  visiting  every  state  and  territory  in  the 
Union,  including  Alaska,  and  also  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  Mexico,  British  Columbia,  Manitoba  and 
Canada.  Wherever  he  went  he  made  collections  of 
specimens  for  the  Museum,  and  arranged  with 
dealers  for  future  correspondence.  From  this  time 
on  until  the  close  of  life  his  winters  were  spent  in 
Florida,  at  a  place  which  he  termed  Oak  Lodge,  on 
the  Eastern  coast. 

Suffer  me  a  few  words  more.  In  the  year  1874 
an  addition  was  made  to  Rhode  Island  Hall,  giving 
a  separate  room  for  the  portraits,  and  enabling  the 
Curator  to  complete  the  wall  cases.  Eventually  the 
portraits  were  transferred  to  Sayles  Memorial  Hall, 
the  botanical  specimens  were  given  over  to  the  care 
of  Professor  Bailey,  a  department  of  Botany  having 
been  established  in  the  College,  and  the  new  or  East 
Room  was  devoted  exclusively  to  Anthropology. 
At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Corporation,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1891,  the  main  or  west  room  was  designated 
as  the  Jenks  Museum  of  Zoology,  to  be  recognized 
as  such  in  the  catalogues,  and  in  the  future  history 
of  the  University.  This  was  done  in  view  not  only 
of  the  persevering  and  self-sacrificing  efforts  of  the 
founder,  but  also  of  his  donations  made  from  the 
savings  of  a  small  salary,  and  amounting  at  that  time, 
according  to  his  own  statement,  to  upwards  of  six 
thousand  dollars. 


Professor  Jenks  now  commenced  in  earnest  the 
work  of  fitting  up  at  his  own  expense,  the  new  or 
East  room  for  the  rapidly  accumulating  stores  of 
Anthropological  material.  He  employed  a  foreman 
and  four  carpenters,  constructed  a  large  arch  way 
connecting  the  two  rooms,  made  a  skylight,  and  up- 
wards of  thirty  glass  cases.  This  he  did  in  addition 
to  his  previous  donations.  In  his  report  for  1892,  he 
says :  "  This  additional  room  makes  it  possible  for 
me  to  begin  to  realize  what  college  museums  of 
Zoology  and  Anthropology  should  be;  and  I  trust  it 
may  please  the  All-wise  Disposer  of  all  earthly 
events  to  spare  my  life  till  my  ideal  shall  have  an 
approximate  completion; — for  as  God's  works  of 
creation  are  infinite  in  variety  and  utility,  so  there 
can  never  be  more  than  an  approximation  to  that 
variety  in  any  one  museum  collection."  In  his  final 
report  to  President  Andrews,  published  since  his 
decease,  he  says: — "There  is  urgent  need  of  another 
room  for  the  Mineralogical  and  Geological  cabinets, 
both  that  they  may  have  the  display  worthy  of  their 
merit,  and  that  the  space  they  now  anomalously 
occupy  in  the  Museum  of  Zoology,  may  be  utilized 
more  legitimately,  according  to  plans  I  have  in  mind, 
for  constructing  at  my  own  expense,  extension  cases 
for  specialties  not  yet  attached  to  the  Museum." 

These  cases  he  never  lived  to  construct.  His 
work  was  finished.  On  Wednesday,  September  26th, 
he  appeared  in  good  health,  attended  to  his  duties, 
and  went  to  his  dinner  as  usual.  Returning  he  was 


36 

seized  with  heart  failure,  and  fell  prostrate  at  the 
foot  of  the  stairs  leading  to  the  Museum,  and  there 
he  was  found  by  some  visitors.  He  had  always  de- 
sired a  sudden  death,  and  his  wish  was  granted.  He 
was  able  to  work  to  the  last;  he  was  spared  the 
pangs  of  disease,  and  the  anxieties  of  a  prolonged 
sickness.  '"  He  was  not  for  God  took  him." 

The  name  of  Professor  Jenks  seldom  appears  in 
the  catalogues  of  authors.  About  year  1876  he  was 
persuaded  to  prepare,  as  a  part  of  Steele's  fourteen 
weeks  series  of  text  books  in  the  natural  sciences, 
"  Fourteen  Weeks  in  Zoology."  Having  as  he  says, 
a  natural  distaste  from  childhood  for  appearing  before 
the  public  in  the  role  of  an  author,  he  refused  to 
allow  his  name  to  appear  on  the  title  page.  The 
book,  which  was  published  the  year  following, 
proved,  unexpectedly  to  him,  a  great  success,  and  a 
new  edition  was  called  for.  In  1886  accordingly  he 
both  revised  and  rewrote  the  book,  making  it  alto- 
gether a  new  work.  In  this  second  edition  his  name 
appears  as  the  author,  Professor  Steele  having  died 
before  its  publication.  So  acceptable  was  the  new 
edition,  which  is  entitled  "  Popular  Zoology,"  that 
the  Chatauqua  Assembly  adopted  it  for  their  course 
in  1889,  taking  thirty  thousand  copies.  Had  the 
author's  tastes  so  inclined,  and  his  modesty  not  pre- 
vented, his  name  might  have  been  handed  down  as  a 
popular  and  instructive  writer  in  Natural  History. 
A  third  edition  of  his  Zoology,  with  an  addition  on 
Practical  Laboratory  Teachings,  by  Dr.  George  W. 


37 

Field,  Associate  Professor  of  Cellular  Biology,  is 
now  ready,  I  understand,  for  the  press. 

Prof essor  Jenks  possessed  a  remarkably  cheerful 
temperament,  and  a  disposition  so  genial,  that  he  was 
always  ready  to  do  a  friendly  act,  and  never  ready  to 
speak  an  unkind  or  ill  word.  Hence  he  made  friends 
wherever  he  went.  He  saw  the  types  of  Southern 
feeling  as  developed  in  slavery,  secession,  and  recon- 
struction, and  through  it  all  preserved  the  most 
cordial  relations  with  his  early  associates  in  Virginia 
and  Georgia,  as  his  journals  and  letters  amply  testify. 
He  was  withal  a  popular  and  instructive  lecturer, 
and  his  services  as  such  were  in  request  by  schools, 
academies  and  societies.  While  some  are  respected 
for  their  position,  and  esteemed  for  their  abilities,  he 
was  respected,  esteemed  and  beloved  by  his  associ- 
ates in  the  Faculty,  his  pupils  at  the  Academy  and 
College,  and  by  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  the  views  of  Pro- 
fessor Jenks  as  a  naturalist,  on  the  Darwin  theory  of 
development,  in  relation  to  the  origin  of  the  human 
race.  He  believed  with  the  inspired  Apostle,  that 
"  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  v  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth;  that  man  was  the  completed  work  of  Cre- 
ation; that  he  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels,  and  crowned  with  glory  and 
honor;  that  he  was  made  to  have  dominion  over  the 
works  of  the  Creator's  hands ;  that  in  the  words  of 
the  Psalmist,  "  all  things  were  put  under  his  feet,  all 
sheep  and  oxen,  yea,  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the  fowl 


38 

of  the  air,  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  whatsoever  pass- 
eth  through  the  paths  of  the  seas."  Monkeys  and 
apes  were  not,  in  his  opinion,  thus  created;  and 
they  formed  no  part  of  his  anthropological  collec- 
tions. 

While  he  saw  the  power  and  goodness  of  God  dis- 
played in  the  outward  works  of  Creation,  in  the 
heavens  the  work  of  His  fingers,  and  the  moon  and 
the  stars  which  He  had  ordained,  he  also  saw  with 
equal  clearness  the  same  power  and  goodness  dis- 
played in  God's  Most  Holy  Word,  revealed  to  man 
through  inspired  prophets,  evangelists,  and  apostles. 
This  he  regarded  as  the  great  Moral  Creation,  and 
he  received  it  with  reverence  and  unfaltering  trust, 
taking  it  from  Genesis  to  Revelation  as  the  man  of 
his  counsel  and  the  guide  of  his  life.  At  the  last 
meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  held  in  Brooklyn  only  five 
weeks  before  his  decease,  he  was  present,  and  took 
a  prominent  part  in  a  prayer  and  conference  meeting 
held  Sunday  afternoon  by  some  sixty  of  the  mem- 
bers. Remarking  that  he  was  the  oldest  member 
present,  having  attended  the  meetings  of  the  Asso- 
ciation from  the  beginning,  he  gave  this  testimony, 
as  reported  in  the  columns  of  the  New  York  World'. 
"  In  all  his  travels,"  he  remarked,  "  in  the  wilds,  in 
the  jungle,  and  on  the  sea,  he  had  always  found  a 
church  in  his  Bible.  If  Science  had  sometimes  trav- 
elled from  the  Bible  truths,  he  had  not.  It  was  the 
INSPIRED  WORD,  and  he  had  been  led  on  by  that 


39 

WORD  in  happiness  and  joy.  Hold  on  to  this  Book," 
he  said,  "  Consult  it  every  day,  and  the  love  and 
goodness  of  the  Lord  will  be  manifest  to  you."  In 
conclusion  he  urged  the  younger  members  not  to 
give  heed  to  the  efforts  of  those  who  would  disrupt 
the  INSPIRED  WORD,  and  render  void  the  the  teach- 
ings of  Moses  aud  the  Prophets. 

John  Whipple  Potter  Jenks  may  not  have  been 
great,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  world  counts  great- 
ness, but  he  was  a  great  worker,  and  the  talents  with 
which  Nature  had  endowed  him,  whether  one,  five 
or  ten,  he  improved  until  they  yielded  returns  an  hun- 
dred fold.  In  the  annals  of  his  Alma  Mater  he  must 
always  appear  as  a  true  benefactor,  providentially 
raised  up  for  the  work  which  he  was  permitted  to 
accomplish.  As  the  years  go  by  the  alumni  will 
gaze  with  renewed  interest  upon  his  portrait,  placed 
by  his  loving  children  in  the  midst  of  the  labors  of 
his  hands,  recognizing  it  as  the  portrait  of  one  who 
devoted  his  energies  and  strength  to  the  founding  of 
a  Museum  which  bears  his  name,  and  thus  gave 
facilities  for  instruction  in  one  of  the  noblest  and 
most  interesting  of  all  studies,  that  of  Natural  His- 
tory. 


3  120503016  1945 


DC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

i in  nil  mill  if" 

D    001  100813    3 


